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Basketball

Carlos Knox, the London Lightning's new head coach talks about his rebounds and defence first strategy as well as continuing the history of public integration. Knox acknowledged the hard work the Lightning have done in the past to get involved with the community and pledged to continue in that vein during a press conference at their Blackfriars Road training gym in London, Ont. on Thursday July 17, 2014.
(MIKE HENSEN, The London Free Press)

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If success in basketball was based on the contents of a resume, Carlos Knox would be assured of success as the London Lightning’s second coach in its three-season history.

Taking over for the departed Micheal Ray Richardson, there’s no doubt Knox is impressive on paper.

He’s a former NBA and college player. He’s coached in the Continental Basketball League and in Saudi Arabia. He’s currently an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

He founded and ran the Knox Indy Pro-Am League, one of only two such leagues sanctioned by the NBA. He has also worked as a personal development coach with a number of professional players.

At his alma mater, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, he was a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA scoring champ.

It will come as a surprise to no one that Knox finished his college career with all of his school’s major scoring records.

“His jersey hangs in the rafters in the rafters of UIPUI to this day,” Lightning GM Taylor Brown said by way of introduction Thursday at the official welcome of Knox to the team, the Forest City and the National Basketball League of Canada. “He is our guy and we’re confident he can continue our winning tradition.”

In his brief remarks to the crowd of players, sponsors and family, Knox casually added that he has visited 18 countries.

It remains to be seen how effective he will be coaching the NBL’s Lightning, but what is clear is that Knox is aiming high, stressing Thursday that he is as much a coach as a role model.

“We’re not only going to be the best team on the floor, but the best team off the floor,” he said emphatically.

It’s also clear he was hired as much for his hoops smarts as his ability to represent the team in the community.

“It is such a pleasure to come here and be welcomed in such a warm fashion,” Knox said. He later said his first impressions of London are that it’s a nice, safe, clean city. He called it a “small-knit” community.

As for the challenge of turning more hockey-mad Londoners into basketball fans,, Knox said the key is getting them involved in the energy of the team when they play.

And he harbours no illusions about the challenge in front him. The Bolts won the league championship their first two seasons under Richardson, then reached the Central Conference final last season.